Monday, October 29, 2012

In the world of comfort food, meatloaf has to rank in at
least the top five. It is inexpensive, easy to prepare, popular with just about
everyone, and makes great sandwich leftovers the next day. In our household meatloaf
may be at the top of the list since I know The Picky Eater loves it. Plus I can
make it healthier with the right ingredients, such as leaner ground sirloin, or
even ground pork or turkey added to the mix.

Now I've discovered a way to make meatloaf weeknight-dinner
heaven by using my slow cooker. Just mix up your favorite meatloaf recipe, put
it in the cooker, turn it on low, and head out the door. You will return home
to the wonderful aroma of meatloaf that is ready to serve. Just microwave some baking
potatoes and cook-up a favorite vegetable (we like green beans) to complete the
meal.

I adapted this recipe from the mini-meatloaf one I posted
this past summer. It took about 6 hours to cook. There are a couple of tips to
remember: Spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray or rub with oil
before placing the meatloaf inside. Plus keep the meatloaf away from the sides
of the slow cooker, which means you need to shape the loaf to conform with the
shape of your cooker.

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking
spray or rub with oil.

Place the ground beef into a large bowl. Add the remaining
ingredients and mix until just blended. Shape into a loaf that will conform to
the shape of the slow cooker without touching the sides. Place inside the slow
cooker.

In a small bowl, whisk together the topping ingredients
until well blended and spread over the top of the meatloaf.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and turn it to the low temperature
setting. Allow the meatloaf to cook for 6 to 8 hours, or until it reaches an
internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Good morning! How do you like to begin the day? I ease into
my morning with a warm cup of cinnamon coffee and the daily paper. Peace.
Quiet. No television and I don’t get my daily dose of NPR on the radio until I’m
getting dressed and ready to head out the door.

I also like to cook in the morning. Often while the coffee
is brewing I get dinner started in the slow cooker, or I mix-up a batch of
cookies to chill in the refrigerator for later.

This morning I was in the mood for a quick bread or muffin
for breakfast. I have a freezer bag full of summer blueberries from the farmer’s
market, and when I went to look for a recipe, I spotted True Blueberry: Recipes for Soups, Salads, Desserts, and More by
Linda Dannenberg tucked away on a cookbook shelf.

The first recipe in the book was this one for blueberry-corn
muffins. I love blueberry muffins. I love corn muffins. So this is a perfect
muffin combo: light, fluffy and sweet with blueberries with a bit of crunch and
body from the cornmeal.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the muffin tin with
non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder,
salt, cornmeal, and sugar until well blended. Set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg and
milk. Pour the milk-egg mixture and the melted butter into the flour mixture
and stir together until just blended. Do not overmix. Fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops
with a little sugar. Bake until the muffins are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove the muffins from the tin. Serve warm or set on a cooling rack to cool.
Store in an air-tight container.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My love affair with apples continues, this time paired with my love for schnitzel. Before you think this traditional German dish is too complicated
to make, just realize that you probably already do! Have you ever breaded and skillet-fried
a piece of meat? That’s schnitzel!

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s
cookbook, Cook with Jamie. I liked
his idea of serving schnitzel with a spicy apple sauce. The sauce’s sweetness
and seasoning matches nicely with the crispy meat.

Schnitzel can be made with pork, chicken or veal. I went
with pork…two center-cut boneless pork chops, to be exact. I also used panko
bread crumbs for extra crunch, mixed with some dried sage for extra flavor. (I
love sage with pork.) Plus, since I knew The Picky Eater wouldn’t care for the
apple sauce, I made some oven-roasted French fries seasoned with a little
rosemary, inspired by the Highlands Ranch Foodie.

The Picky Eater cleaned his plate, and so did I! Next time I
may add some red chili pepper flakes to the apple sauce for a bit of heat and
savoriness.

2 center-cut boneless pork chops
Salt and pepper, to taste
Flour
1 egg, beaten
Panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried sage
Olive or canola oil for the pan
Lemon
To make the apple sauce, melt the butter over medium heat in
a saucepan. Add the orange zest and juice, plus the sugar and spices. Bring to
a bubble, and then add the apples. Cover and simmer over low heat until the
apples soften and begin to break down, about 20 to 25 minutes. Keep warm or
allow to cool to room temperature, depending on how you like it.

To make the schnitzel, place the pork chops in a
gallon-sized zipper bag, but do not close. Flatten the chops with a meat
tenderizer or rolling pin until they are 1/4-inch thick.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet between 1/8
and 1/4-inch deep over medium heat. Set up 3 shallow dishes: 1 with flour, 1
with the beaten egg, and 1 with the bread crumbs and sage. Salt and pepper the
pork chops, and then dip into the flour. Shake off the excess. Dip the chops
into the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture, pressing down in the bread
crumbs to make sure the chops are well coated and the bread crumbs stick to the
chop.

Test the oil in the skilled by dropping in a couple of bread
crumbs. If they sizzle, you are ready to fry. Place the pork chops into the
skilled and cook until the chops are golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn
the chops over and continue to cook until golden brown. The internal temperature
should be 145 degrees. Place the chops on a paper-towel-coverd plate,
season with more salt and pepper if desired, and allow to rest for 3
minutes.

Just before serving, spritz the top of the pork chops with a
little lemon juice. Serve with a spoonful of the apple sauce on the side.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Busy? I don’t know about you, but this autumn has been a
very busy one for us so far. After The Picky Eater’s week in the hospital, my
days are full of writing deadlines, afternoons teaching my preschoolers, and
evenings helping my love with his work. Plus doctor’s appointments, dietary
changes, and keeping track of medicine schedules…whew! Before I know it, 24
hours has passed and a new day begins.

Thank goodness for slow cookers! It's so nice to just put
ingredients into the pot, turn it on, and have dinner ready a few hours
later. With the cooler weather, mine has been churning out a lot of soups and
chili, and I plan to find other creative ways to turn out a meal with this
slow cooking wonder.

One of our favorite recipes is this Vegetable Beef Soup. I make it with low-sodium broth (something I’ve always used) and without added
salt for my sweetheart…and he likes it!!!

This soup will be a regular meal to warm our autumn evenings
and winter days.

Place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker. Turn on
low and cook for approximately 8 hours, or until the beef is fall-apart tender.
If you like crispier vegetables, only add half of the frozen vegetables at the
beginning, and then add the remainder 1 hour before serving. Also, just before
serving, remove the bay leaf and the garlic clove. If there is a lot of fat
from the beef on top of the soup, just skim it off before serving.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

I have craved apples ever since the first hints of autumn
began to change the leaves from green to russet, gold, and orange. So I was
thrilled when W. W. Norton and Company sent me a copy of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook by Amy Traverso. All you could possibly
want to know about apples can be found in this book, from the history and a
primer on what apples work best in particular dishes, to cider tasting notes
and where to buy mail-order apples.

Plus, Traverso has included a large recipe selection, both
sweet and savory. You should see all of the Post-It flags sticking out of my
copy. I’ll be making apple dishes well into winter!

My first selection was Baked Apple Oatmeal Pudding, primarily
because I was hungry for breakfast at the time. This recipe is similar to bread
pudding, except old-fashioned oatmeal is used instead of bread. The flavor was
wonderful. I tried it first served warm with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, as
the recipe suggested. It was good, but I liked it even better the next day warm
with a bit of half and half poured over the top. Just reheat a bowl full in the
microwave and then pour on the half and half. Cream would also be lovely,
whipped or not.

My only recipe adjustments were to increase the amount of
cinnamon and add a little nutmeg. Plus I used walnuts instead of
the called-for pecans, only because that’s what I had on-hand.

Yummm! Now I have a warm, delicious and satisfying breakfast
for the entire week.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Sometimes you just have to stop and celebrate autumn, even
if just for a moment.

The Picky Eater and I are still adjusting to our new “normal”
life after his hospital visit. I’m amazed at how much time is consumed with
adjusting medications, follow-up doctors’ appointments, and shifting to a more
heart-healthy diet, plus writing deadlines and teaching. Thank goodness I’ve
written a number of articles in the past about nutritious eating, so I know
what to look out for when cooking or eating at a restaurant. I would hate to
think about how much more time-consuming this would be trying to learn it all from
scratch!

Unfortunately, my blog has taken a backseat to the rest of
life for now. However, I did have this recipe ready to post last week before
our unscheduled hospital detour. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to return to
blogging normal, this time featuring some recipes adjusted to fit The Picky
Eater’s new plan.

To me, autumn means apples fresh from the tree (or in my
case, farmers market.) I developed this coffee cake recipe eight years ago for
a magazine that had a photo they wanted to use but needed a recipe to go with
the image. This morning treat is like having apple pie in cake form, thanks to
the delicious layer of apples that is found in the middle.

When it comes to baking, not all apples are the same. Some will turn to
mush. For this recipe, I used Golden
Delicious, a sweet all-purpose apple. Other all-purpose varieties that
would taste nice in this coffee cake include sweet Fuji apples, tart Granny
Smiths, or Honey Crisps, with their combination of sweet and tart. Just keep in
mind you may need to adjust the amount of sugar used in the filling depending
on the sweetness of the apples.

Place
filling ingredients into a medium bowl and toss well until the apples are
coated. Set aside.

For the
batter, in a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
Set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, blend the softened butter and sugar until
creamy. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix
well.

Spread half
of the batter in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the apple filling on top
of the batter, and then drop the remaining batter by spoonfuls over the top.
(You won’t think you have enough batter, but don’t worry. You do!)

In a small
bowl, combine the ingredients for the topping, suing your fingers to break up
the butter until the mixture is combined but crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the
top of the cake.

Bake for 30
to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the
middle of the cake comes out fairly clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before
serving. Best served warm.

Monday, October 1, 2012

In the early morning hours on the day my husband, Michael,
was to have quadruple bypass surgery, he pulled me close in the darkened
hospital room and quietly said, “I don’t think surgery is the right thing for
me. I want to try something else first. And I need you to stand by my decision.”

At first I thought my sweetheart was just afraid, but it
soon became clear Michael truly believed deep down inside that surgery wasn’t
the right path for him to take. So we broke the news to nurses, doctors, family
and friends. After a lot of shocked reactions and serious discussions, everyone
rallied around him and came up with a new plan. He hasn’t ruled out surgery
completely, but for now we are trying new medicines and diet changes to keep
his heart as strong as possible.

So instead of spending Friday waiting for word from the
operating room and giving comfort in the intensive care unit, we came home to
begin adjusting to our new “normal” life. Our daily activities are the same as
before this hospital stay, but now there is always that small realization in
the back of my mind that something is different.

I’m trying very hard not to be a hovering, worrisome,
nagging wife…but sometimes I can’t help it. As each day passes, my stress level
lessens as I learn to turn my worries over to God, since He’s the one ultimately
in charge.

Thank you everyone who sent get-well wishes and support on
this blog and also through Facebook and Twitter. I can’t tell you how much your
thoughts meant to me.

On our first full day home from the hospital, I made wheat
bread. There is something comforting in the process of mixing flour, yeast, and
water together to create this basic dietary staple. Since I find kneading dough
by hand stressful (I never seem to get it right!), I let my handy-dandy Kitchen
Aid mixer do the work.

As the smell of baking bread filled our apartment, my
anxiety was quietly replaced with a sense of home and well-being. And The Picky Eater liked it!

Everything will be okay.

Wheat Bread

Adapted from one found in the cookbook that came with my
Kitchen Aid mixer.
Makes 2 loaves

In a small sauce pan, heat the milk, honey, salt and butter
just until the butter has melted and the honey and salt are dissolved. Set
aside.

In the bowl of the mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm
water. Add the whole wheat flour and 2 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Add
the milk-butter mixture. Mix with the dough hook on speed 2 for about 1 minute.

With the mixer still running, add the remaining flour 1/2
cup at a time until the dough is cleaned from the sides of the mixing bowl and
clings to the dough hook, about 2 minutes. Continue to mix for an additional 2
minutes to knead the dough. When finished, the dough should be smooth and slightly
sticky to the touch.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, making sure to grease the
top of the dough, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot
free from drafts to let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. (I
preheat my oven at 400 degrees for just 1 minute, shut it off, and place the
bowl with the dough inside to rise.)

After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it in
half. Roll out each half on a lightly floured surface into a 9- x 14-inch rectangle.
Starting from the 9-inch side, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seam to
close and tuck under the sides. Place the dough, seam side down, into a greased
loaf pan. Cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise again until doubled in
bulk, about one hour.

Place the loaf pans into a preheated 400-degree oven and
bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the baked loves immediately
from the pans and allow to cool on a wire rack.

About Me

For more than a decade I have been a freelance writer. With more than 1,000 articles in print, my work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Topeka Capital-Journal, Concord Monitor, Around Concord, Hippo entertainment newspaper, Dallas Morning News, CatFancy, New Hampshire Home, Best of Burlington, Upper Valley Image, Woodstock Magazine, Better Nutrition, Great Life, Let’s Live, and American Airlines Custom Publishing. And I love to cook! I credit the women from my childhood for introducing me to the kitchen. My mother taught me how to sift ingredients for Tollhouse cookies and acted as my consultant while, at ten years of age, I fixed my first roast beef dinner. Grandma made homemade noodles that were so coated in flour that the chicken broth they boiled in became thick, rich gravy. And Mamaw created delicious meals in Missouri farmhouse kitchen that was the heart of her home. (And she actually hated to cook.) But my education in the finer points of good food came from television chefs such as Graham Kerr, Jeff Smith, Jacques Pépin, and, of course, Julia Child. She taught me to not be afraid of the most complicated dish thanks to her easy-going attitude about food.